The Idea of a Catholic School
With so much distraction in today’s ever changing intellectual landscape having a simple thought may seem difficult. At times, we may dare to think that no one else understands us and thus the center of the entire universe only rests in us. Fortunately, the great Doctor of the Church St. Frances De Sales has something to say about this mode of thinking. In his spiritual piercing work "An Introduction to the Devout Life" (Book X), he comments on how we are to look at our creation as means of placing ourselves in the presence of Christ:
“God did not create you because He had any need of you, for you are wholly useless to Him, but only that He might exercise towards you His goodness, bestowing on you His grace and glory. To accomplish this, He has given you an understanding to know Him, a memory to remember Him, a will to love Him, an imagination to recall His mercies, eyes to see the wonders of His works, a tongue to praise Him, and so with all your other faculties.”
This striking mini-tome crafts the very purpose of our creation as St. Frances De Sales tells us. The essential point here is that we are created for the good of God. It is like the old spiritual adage: “God don’t make junk, I’m lovable.” In reality, our very creation resonates with a love that is unique to our Father alone because of His infinite goodness.
Understanding this saving reality draws me to a conversation I had with a dear friend of mine. He was sharing with me the daily moral challenges his son was facing during his first year in college. Not a day went by where my friend’s son was being chastised for either being Catholic, defending the moral teachings of the Church, or mocked for not acquiescing to certain behaviors others were engaged in. One incident that typified the continual onslaught was “orientation night” for freshmen. As a way of “welcoming” the incoming class and at the same time helping them “relax,” a stand-up comedian was brought in as the main evening entertainment. Without getting into specifics the comedian was less than virtuous and charitable with the content of his act. He noticed that my friend’s son was not at all amused. The comedian brought his son up on stage and bluntly asked him if there was a problem with his act. This brave young man then took the opportunity to tell the comedian he found his act morally offensive, demeaning to women, and degrading to God. Unfortunately, the comedian did not take these comments well and proceeded to chastise this brave young man for his faith.
What kept my friend's son strong in his faith? The primary answer rests in his Catholic upbringing. The Church has always reminded us that we as parents are first and foremost the primary educators of our children. (Gravissimum Educationis, 6) Now, I value the relationship my friend and I have due to the fact that we are Fathers of children whose mission is to prepare them to engage the world through their Catholic faith. We share a prudent, common-sense look at the world and constantly discuss how our children will handle the rigors of the world through their faith. Knowing the Church is under a constant attack in various ways, we are keenly aware of the armor (Eph 6:10-20) our children must take-on to effectively witness and evangelize the faith to others.
A second answer to the question I stated in the previous paragraph rests in an effective Catholic School program. Many may argue that our Catholic Schools have strayed from their Catholic identity. However, I have seen and foresee a renewal in Catholic school education. This particular young man benefited from a Catholic school environment whose purpose is to promote and teach the Catholic faith. Catholic schools are beacons of hope. Their aim is to develop the student to view the world through a Catholic lens. A Catholic school curriculum should expose the student to: 1) Know what is happening in the world, 2) Instruct on the supernatural history of the world, 3) Instruct on Divine History, and 4) Instruct in Human development. The aim of these four points is to direct the student to a sacred history. The sacredness of this history rests in Jesus Christ. If we can get our students to understand these points, hopefully they will see how their own personal living is part of the Divine history of God. In other words, the student will see the hand of God throughout history thus witnessing and living a true humanism forged in the Son of God.
We desire for the soul of the student to be well-instructed. If it is not, then the example of my friend’s son quite possibly may have turned another direction. The education of the soul is at the heart of a Catholic School. The General Directory for Catechesis echoes this point very clearly. It is necessary, therefore, that religious instruction in a Catholic school appear as a scholastic discipline with the same systematic demands and the same rigor as other disciplines. It must present the Christian message and the Christian event with the same seriousness and the same depth with which other disciplines present their knowledge. It should not be an accessory alongside of these disciplines, but rather it should engage in a necessary interdisciplinary dialogue. (73)
Echoing this position, Pope Benedict XVI during his April 2008 visit to the United States addresses this same theme to Catholic Educators at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. He expressed the particular responsibility of every Catholic educator “to evoke among the young the desire for the act of faith, encouraging them to commit themselves to the ecclesial life that follows from this belief.”
The “Idea of a Catholic School” has a mission to transform the soul. Faith and reason coexist in this equation. Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman in his masterpiece “The Idea of University” comments that, “Nature and Grace, Reason and Revelation come from the same Divine Author whose works cannot contradict one another." (240) As Catholic educators, the “moment” of conversion for our students begins the moment they come into our classrooms and view “Heaven” as the primary aim for the “souls” of these children. Everything else will fall into place. Amen.